Philippines' Aquino calls for end to Facebook bashing

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday appealed for a stop to government bashing over a hostage crisis that left eight foreigners dead, but his Facebook plea triggered more condemnation.

Aquino's official Facebook page, which he had set up to promote transparency in government, has been swamped with angry comments, from barbs against bungling policemen to calls for him to quit.

"We have heard and read a lot of opinions from the public, even from foreigners that were affected," Aquino said on Facebook.

"We appeal on everyone to stop needless arguments. Let us show everyone that we, Filipinos, know how to respect and understand."

The message triggered varied replies on the page, with some expressing support but many others dismissing it outright.

"Shame on you and your government. Tender your resignation now," wrote Elfis Lee, a Hong Kong resident.

"Your incompetence of leading your untrained stupid police force caused such a tragedy."

Jay Rodrigo apologised on behalf of Filipinos, but had strong words about his feelings towards Aquino, who won the presidency by a landslide in May but whose popularity now appears to be taking a direct hit from the tragedy.

"You see, our president is a retard who has done nothing but smirk in front of the TV cameras after all that has happened," he replied on the page.

"He's slowly killing our country coz of his stupidity."

An ex-policeman seized a bus-load of 22 Hong Kong tourists and three Filipinos Monday, triggering a 12-hour face-off that ended in a bloodbath following a police assault.

Aside from the gunman, eight tourists were killed, triggering angry comments from Hong Kong where the government has issued a travel warning for the Philippines.

It also put the spotlight on longstanding problems with the Philippine police force, which admitted to blunders in handling the crisis.

The Internet-savvy Aquino, 50, used social networking sites to promote his anti-corruption campaign and vows of full transparency in the run-up to the election.

His official Facebook page has 1.94 million fans.

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Profile and Page Roadmap Update

We announced plans last October to remove application boxes and application info sections as well as reduce the width of application tabs to optimize for the new profile and Facebook Pages format. We will be moving forward with these changes the week of August 23, and want to help you understand what to expect.

Based on feedback from developers, we have committed to the following plans to ensure a smooth transition:

* Boxes. We will notify users via messaging in profile boxes and in the Help Center that the "Boxes" tab, boxes on profiles and Pages, and application info sections will be going away.
* Application Tabs. Next week, we will give Page admins the ability to preview their custom tabs in the new 520 pixel width so they can modify their layouts as needed. All profile and Page tabs will be resized automatically beginning the week of August 23.

These updates are designed to simplify navigation for users, reduce complexity for developers, and enable us to build the next generation of tools for growing your business with Facebook. We'll share more of our plans for the roadmap in the coming weeks.


Fran, a Platform product marketing manager, is busy updating the roadmap.

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